2285: A Simple Guide to Successful Parenting by Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist on Preparing Children for Adulthood

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Relationships Daily. A simple guide to successful parenting by Joshua Becker

[00:00:06] [SPEAKER_00]: of Becoming Minimalist.com. Hello everybody and welcome to another parenting episode here on ORD

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm your host and narrator Greg Audino. Great to have you once again. Thank you so much for

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_00]: tuning in for our Parenting Leg of the Week, which is every Thursday and Friday. And the post we'll

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_00]: be sharing today is pretty straightforward. It's a simple guide to successful parenting,

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: courtesy of Joshua Becker. So let's see what wisdom he has to offer as we optimize your life.

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: A Simple Guide to Successful Parenting by Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist.com.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Parenting at its core is about making wise choices in order to prepare young men and women

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: to be released into the world as responsible adults. And that's why later today I'll be

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_00]: traveling to the city of San Salvador, El Salvador. I've been asked to speak on the

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: topic of successful parenting as a means to help encourage the growth of healthy families,

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_00]: healthy neighborhoods and healthy communities. And despite being smack dab in the middle of

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: a cross-country move, it was an opportunity that I could not pass up. And considering it

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: was planned before our decision to move, I felt a need to fulfill my commitment.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_00]: As a result, over the next seven days I will be speaking five times in various locations around

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: the city to roughly 500 parents. And I couldn't be more excited. I love meeting new people,

[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I love parenting, and I love the opportunity to encourage healthy families and influence

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_00]: healthy communities. Because I have a limited opportunity at each venue, I've tried to condense

[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_00]: the wisdom of successful parenting into one short presentation. It's not exhaustive, and each point

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_00]: of the outline could easily become a book in itself. But I believe it is enough to encourage

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: parents, challenge parents, and send them down a road to develop successful and flexible parenting

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: habits in their lives. And rather than asking you to come visit me this weekend in San Salvador,

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I thought I'd just put my abbreviated outline here on Becoming Minimalist.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: A Simple Guide to Successful Parenting

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: 1. Successful Parents Love Their Spouse

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Healthy marriages form the foundation on which children base their lives.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: They provide the stability necessary for young children to grow,

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: thrive, and experiment. Home becomes a safe place that models and encourages selfless love.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Successful parents are faithful to their spouse. They do not take for granted the life commitment

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: that they have made to one another. They work hard each day to love their spouse,

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and they pride themselves on what they can give to the relationship, not in what they can take from it.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: 2. Successful Parents Correct Harmful Behaviors, Attitudes, and Worldviews

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The old proverb holds true – spare the rod, spoil the child. While discipline can take various forms

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: and should be adapted for each particular child, it must be present for parenting success.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Children need to learn everything from the ground up, including appropriate behaviors,

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_00]: how to get along with others, how to get results, and how to achieve their dreams.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Discipline should not be avoided or withheld. It should never be motivated by anger,

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_00]: pride, or selfish reasons, because then it causes harm rather than resulting in benefit.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, it should be motivated by love and a desperate desire to see your children become

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_00]: the best they can be. 3. Successful Parents

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Encourage Healthy Behaviors, Attitudes, and Worldviews

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Parenting is a thinking man's game. It takes energy, strategy, and intentionality. Yet many

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_00]: parents are unwilling to give it the attention that it deserves. As a result, their children

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: become shaped by the world around them, rather than by the parents who love them. Successful

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: parents do not just discourage unhealthy habits, they also intentionally encourage positive habits.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_00]: They envision the type of person they would like their children to become.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: They consistently model that behavior for them. They speak lofty expectations into their children's

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: lives. They think the best of their children. They provide opportunities for their children

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_00]: to learn valuable life lessons, and they praise positive habits, both privately and publicly.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: 4. Successful Parents Encourage Spirituality

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll probably steer away from the beaten path here for a moment, but there is a deep sense in

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: my heart that wise parents encourage spirituality in the lives of their children. They instill within

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: their kids a deep sense that there is more to this world than meets the eye. Some of the greatest

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: things in this world are not things. Instead, they are invisible, life-giving, and eternal.

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_00]: There is a moral compass that guides life on this planet. Wise parents encourage and provide

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: opportunities for their children to find it. Some of the most fruitful conversations I've had with

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_00]: my children center on this topic of spirituality, and I always encourage parents to consider them.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_00]: 5. Successful Parents Know When To Let Go

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Parenting is 100% parents trying to shape their lives, and 100% children choosing their own life.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_00]: While parenting requires time, energy, love, sweat, and tears, it also requires freedom to

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: allow our children to make their own decisions and choose their own paths. It's a difficult

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: balance that varies from child to child, but parents who neglect to let go cause harm,

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and they never accomplish the very goal of parenting itself—making wise choices in order

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00]: to prepare young men and women to be released into the world as responsible adults. You just

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: listened to the post titled, A Simple Guide to Successful Parenting by Joshua Becker of

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_00]: becomingminimalist.com, and I'll be back with my commentary right after this.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And thank you to Joshua for this post. However, I might suggest looking at it as a guide more than

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_00]: gospel. Successful parenting is about much more than we've heard today, and it's certainly not

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_00]: reliant on having a 100% success rate within these five qualities listed. You know, our

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: spiritual practices may be absent, letting go might not come naturally to us, and I think it's

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_00]: extremely short-sighted to suggest that our marriages need to stay intact in order to be

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: considered successful as parents. Everything or everyone that we deem as a success has blind spots

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: or has made errors along the way, and parenting is no different. So yeah, try to be mindful about

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_00]: letting go. Try to cultivate a sense of spiritual awareness in your kids if you believe in it

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_00]: yourself, whatever that might look like to you. Try to encourage and practice healthy behaviors,

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and try to do right by your partner at every chance you get. The effort here determines more

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: success than the result is what I'm trying to say, and many times effort lies in picking ourselves up

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: after initial failure. So some things to think about. It's time to get going for now though

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: everybody. Another parenting post in the books, one that I hope you enjoyed, and if you did then

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: be sure to come back tomorrow for another parenting article in the Friday show. That's

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: where your optimal life awaits.